The opposition may have been modest and the strike somewhat scruffy but, when Erik Lamela got his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur in their Europa League group match against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday, it seemed a significant moment for both player and club. The Argentina winger has struggled to impress since arriving from Roma for £30m in August, a Spurs record fee, but at last he had acclaim, with his goal capping off a highly impressive performance.

"Every time I play I feel better, so it was a great experience [to score] in front of all our fans," said Lamela. "I came here to give the team what it needs. I will bring what I can and I hope to do well. I said that I would be capable of making the difference here because I believe in myself."

It was belief that persuaded André Villas-Boas to spend a large chunk of the money Tottenham received from Real Madrid for Gareth Bale on Lamela, who in 67 games for Roma, spanning a little under two years, scored 21 goals and provided 13 assists for his team-mates. He subsequently caught the eye of many leading clubs across Europe so it looked quite a coup for Spurs when they were able to make the player, who is left-footed but predominately operates as a right winger, the seventh acquisition of a £100m-plus summer spree.

But it has since been something of a slog for the 21-year-old, who along with a change of club, country and culture has also had to deal with the unexpected rise of Andros Townsend. As such, Lamela has yet to start a Premier League game for Spurs and instead has seen his chances to influence the team restricted to their fixtures in the Europa League and Capital One Cup. He well and truly took his opportunity against Sheriff, the Moldovan champions, tormenting their left-back Djibril Paye from the start. It was via a deflection off Paye that Lamela scored on 60 minutes and then, having glided into the area with impressive skill, he was tripped by the same player, leading to the penalty from which Jermain Defoe scored a record-breaking 23rd goal in European competition for Spurs.

After the 2-1 victory, which guarantees Spurs' passage into the knockout stages of the Europa League with two Group K fixtures to spare, Villa-Boas spoke of Lamela having not found it easy to adapt to life in England because of "personal reasons – not speaking the language, opposite social life to Italy, change of city, no family here". Yet the player himself, who began his career at River Plate before moving to Roma in October 2011, claimed he had not particularly struggled with the transition from Rome to London.

"No, it's not been difficult," he said. "It's a different kind of football but, when I joined Roma, the first month there I didn't do all that well and then slowly but surely, it got better. Everything depends on the training sessions. You improve and then in the end you feel better.

"It [the transfer fee] is not a pressure. When I went to Rome they paid quite a lot to bring me from Argentina but the size of the fee was good for me. It meant that they took a gamble, went the extra mile for me. I want to show what I can do, always trying to do things for the benefit of the team."

The next opportunity for Lamela to shine comes on Sunday, when Spurs host Newcastle. A first league start surely beckons for the man from Carapachay – who has five caps for Argentina and is confident of being part of his country's World Cup squad – alongside the growing talk of the White Hart Lane faithful having a player that can excite them as much as Bale once did. Comparisons with the Welshman are, however, something Lamela is keen to play down.

"It's not right to say I came here to replace Bale or any other player," he said. "He is who he is and I am who I am. I'm thinking about Tottenham, doing well here, training hard, and this way we hope to become a great team and to compete strongly this season."